Insightrix Research Inc. is a firm based in Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. And like most residents of Saskatchewan, it's primary interest is the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

The Roughriders are undoubtedly the strongest brand in the CFL (the best football league in the world, bar none, it's not even close, don't even try to argue). But where do they stand as a sports brand in relation to Canada's other major sports franchises?

Survey says: third, behind the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, in first and second, respectively.

Yes, respectively. According to Insightrix Research's findings, the Montreal Canadiens are a stronger brand that the Toronto Maple Leafs.

These are divisive results, especially in hockey-mad Canada, and especially in August, when hockey-mad Canadians are mostly just mad Canadians, because there's no hockey.

Torontonians are furious, and you can understand why. The Leafs may not have

• Sean McIndoe on the NHL's new super-extensions, and why they're not as concerning as they seem. [Grantland]

• Brooks Laich on missing the playoffs in Washington, and how great it was, since it got Adam Oates and George McPhee fired, essentially: "My honest opinion is not making the playoffs last year might have been the greatest day going forward for our

The 2014 World Selects Invitational hockey tournament was held in Budapest, Hungary, last week, and for the third straight year in a row, the U16 Girls division was won by the West Coast Selects, a team comprised of American teenagers.

But it's not the threepeat that's making headlines. It's a video of West Coast Selects defender Hannah Bates, from Michigan, taking a two-handed slash to the back of the head. The slash, from Svetlana Starovoytova of Russia's Spartak team, is so hard that the stick breaks over Bates' helmet and makes a horrific THWAP that echoes around the arena.

If you haven't seen it yet, turn the sound on, then watch this:

The slash came late in a game the Russians were trailing 2-1. No doubt it was borne of frustration, but, um, you can't do that.

Amazingly, Bates was okay. "Shoutout to Warrior for making Russian-proof helmets that saved me from a concussion," she tweeted, along with video of the attack, uploaded by a family member.

It's tough to score on Henrik Lundqvist, because it's difficult to even fire a shot at him when you're in his presence. Would you shoot at a sunset?

The New York Rangers' starting goaltender is handsome, is what I'm getting at. In fact, perhaps the biggest shame of his hockey career is he plays a position in which his face is covered. On the bright side, while his mask obscures his perfect face, it also protects his perfect face. Your argument for why this matters? Jeff Carter.

Anyway. If it's more Henrik Lundqvist you want, and you do, because of course you do, look no further than his new ad for Bread and Boxers, in which he wanders around a black-and-white world, pondering what happened in the Stanley Cup Final, where all the color went, and then where his shirt went:

They're Henrik Lundqvist's favorite underwear because, unlike opposing forwards, they don't have him moving from side to side. Heyo! Nailed it. I'm the best at jokes.

Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

All the Sabres and Canucks jerseys mashed into one. Gross.

• What do the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks have in common? Well, they're expansion cousins, but they're also famous for their terrible uniforms. Here's what both would look like if you combined all their sweaters into one. [Reddit]

• Alex Ovechkin was involved in a minor traffic collision in Russia, and it was his fault. What happened? Did he fail to use his rearview mirror, making for easy jokes about his unwillingness to backcheck? Sadly, no. He just lost control of his car, which still makes sense, since he's occasionally a reckless hitter. [RMNB]

• The Smithsonian has a feature on the tragic Lokomotiv plane crash. [Smithsonian]

• The Sarnia Sting were mocked for taking Pavel Zacha in the OHL draft, but he's going to report

That's what the team is wearing above. Look at these monstrosities! You can practically see the players reminding themselves this is for an incredible cause.

But the mission doesn't end at sweaters. This is hockey, after all, where every goal is accompanied by a goal song, and now Kiruna's goal of "promoting acceptance and diversity in Swedish hockey and in society at large" has gotten one as well, thanks to Johannes Timander and Tony Lindmark of the Jovian Channel, as well as Anton Josefsson from electronica group A-TEC.

Behold, "We Are One", in all its Eurodance glory:

The Kiruna IF players singing backup are pretty good. I'm pretty sure they played the same role on that one Bastille song.

The San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings meet five times in 2014-15, with one of those meetings likely to be outdoors.

Back in early June, Kevin Kurz reported that, after the Kings and Ducks killed it in their stadium series game, the Sharks were expected host one in 2015-16, at either AT&T Park in San Francisco, home of the Giants, or Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where the 49ers will begin playing next season.

But it would appear the details are more concrete than that. On Saturday, for all of three hours, you could purchase tickets at Ticketmaster to the 2015 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, a Saturday, February 21 game between the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks at Levi's Stadium.

A Ticketmaster link live for three hours Saturday.

The link, which is here, was dead by noon. Readers Brandon C. and Jennifer S. helpfully passed along the above screengrab, however.

But it happened, and provided Ticketmaster knows a little more about future events than we do, this game is happening, and at Levi's Stadium.

Clearly, the Montreal Canadiens didn't like the way things went at their arbitration hearing with P.K. Subban on Friday.

Either that, or they just really like Subban. (Probably both.) On Saturday, the team got in just under the wire, beating the arbitrator's ruling and announcing an eight-year, $72 million contract.

“We are very pleased to have reached a long term agreement with P.K. Subban. This agreement helps consolidate the future of our team. A key element of our group of young veterans, P.K. plays with a high level of intensity every time he steps onto the ice. Despite his young age, he carries a great deal of experience and brings contagious energy to the team. Defensemen of his level are a rare commodity in the NHL,” said Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin.

Which is why it's so amazing that it took the Canadiens this long to throw all the money and all the term at Subban. I mean, good Lord, could they have cut it any closer? I understand that Marc Bergevin was looking for

When the Australian Ice Hockey League's Canberra Knights rebooted as the player-run CBR Brave, many were inspired by their tale of perseverance, but less inspired by the team they were likely to ice. Part of the reason their owner tried to fold the team was his embarrassment over how bad they were the season prior. It seemed unlikely they'd be much better this time around, especially since they were practically an expansion team now, unretiring players who still lived in the Canberra area to cobble together a full roster.

But with a month to go in the season, the Brave, last seen getting waxed to prove their courage, sit third, just two points out of first place. So naturally, every game matters, and they're unwilling to let any potential points slip away.

Which is why they're unhappy with the AIHL's decision to cancel a game versus the Adelaine Adrenaline and award a point to each team for their troubles.

The reason for the cancellation? Bus crash. On the way to Canberra for a July 19

• Chad Ochocinco may be in the Canadian Football League right now, but he's hoping to get back to America some way, somehow. His newest plan: backup goalie for the New York Islanders. It'll be an easy transition, since they already have a Chad Johnson in that role.

• What hath the Brendan Shanahan era in Toronto wrought? No major changes to the core, but some serious adjustments to the team's depth, on and off the ice. [Maple Leafs Hot Stove]

• The best players from every franchise in the NHL. What, no Jagr? [ESPN]